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Slingshot
Acidly funny and compulsively readable, Mercedes Helnwein’s debut novel Slingshot is a story about two people finding each other and then screwing it all up. See soulmate, friendship, stupidity, sex, bad poetry, and all the indignities of being in love for the first time.
Grace Welles had resigned herself to the particular loneliness of being fifteen and stuck at a third-tier boarding school in the swamps of Florida, when she accidentally saves the new kid in her class from being beaten up. With a single aim of a slingshot, the monotonous mathematics of her life are obliterated forever…because now there is a boy in it that she never asked for. Wade Scholfield.
With Wade, Grace discovers a new way to exist. School rules are optional, life is bizarrely perfect, and conversations about wormholes can lead to make-out sessions that disrupt any logical stream of thought.
So why does Grace crush Wade’s heart into a million tiny pieces? And what are her options when she finally realizes that 1. The universe doesn’t revolve around her, and 2. Wade has been hiding a dark secret? Is Grace the only person unhinged enough to save him?
Eleanor and Park meets Ladybird in this outstanding debut novel.
Grace Welles had resigned herself to the particular loneliness of being fifteen and stuck at a third-tier boarding school in the swamps of Florida, when she accidentally saves the new kid in her class from being beaten up. With a single aim of a slingshot, the monotonous mathematics of her life are obliterated forever…because now there is a boy in it that she never asked for. Wade Scholfield.
With Wade, Grace discovers a new way to exist. School rules are optional, life is bizarrely perfect, and conversations about wormholes can lead to make-out sessions that disrupt any logical stream of thought.
So why does Grace crush Wade’s heart into a million tiny pieces? And what are her options when she finally realizes that 1. The universe doesn’t revolve around her, and 2. Wade has been hiding a dark secret? Is Grace the only person unhinged enough to save him?
Eleanor and Park meets Ladybird in this outstanding debut novel.
352 pages, Paperback
First published April 27, 2021
106 people are currently reading
6555 people want to read
About the author
Mercedes Helnwein
4 books73 followersMercedes Helnwein is a visual artist and writer.
She was born in Vienna, Austria, and grew up in Germany, Ireland, and partially the US and the UK. Instead of going to college she moved to L.A. where she began putting on art shows with her friends and selling her drawings.
Her obsession with writing began at age ten when she wrote her first short story for a school assignment – The Celery Stick Who Became President.
She currently lives and works in L.A. and Ireland.
She was born in Vienna, Austria, and grew up in Germany, Ireland, and partially the US and the UK. Instead of going to college she moved to L.A. where she began putting on art shows with her friends and selling her drawings.
Her obsession with writing began at age ten when she wrote her first short story for a school assignment – The Celery Stick Who Became President.
She currently lives and works in L.A. and Ireland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 595 reviews
August 31, 2021
What a beautiful, realistic, extremely poignant novel with John Green and Sally Rooney’s character vibes! Realistic fiction dances with coming of age!
In this book: NOBODY IS PERFECT!
Parents suck! Teachers are biased! Protagonists are flawed, making so many mistakes to break each others’ hearts.
Angst, sadness, taking risks to fall in love and to be loved in return, loyalty, pure honesty, dysfunctional families, self-discovery, bullying, destroying your emotional barriers are the issues were realistically questioned in this book.
Both Grace and Wade catch something so pure, delicate, unique but of course they are young, inexperienced, scared and they cannot take back the words come out their mouths or turn back in time to make things right. Both of them earned a special place in my heart. They were adorable.
I’m not gonna give any spoiler but I have to tell: I cried, I hurt, I yelled a lot during my read: i didn’t expect to be affected so deeply. The characters are so genuine, natural and their stories are so relatable because everyone of us experienced the same phases and we still remember how to be 15, feeling like nobody is understanding us, bottling the anger, resentment and pain, having no idea about who we are or we are gonna be!
This impeccably written, heart wrenching, questioning and remarkable book helped me make a quick mental time travel to remember those days!
No more words: highly well-earned, deep, intense, unique, truly poignant four stars!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books / St. Martin’s Press for sharing this emotional ARC with me in exchange my honest review.
In this book: NOBODY IS PERFECT!
Parents suck! Teachers are biased! Protagonists are flawed, making so many mistakes to break each others’ hearts.
Angst, sadness, taking risks to fall in love and to be loved in return, loyalty, pure honesty, dysfunctional families, self-discovery, bullying, destroying your emotional barriers are the issues were realistically questioned in this book.
Both Grace and Wade catch something so pure, delicate, unique but of course they are young, inexperienced, scared and they cannot take back the words come out their mouths or turn back in time to make things right. Both of them earned a special place in my heart. They were adorable.
I’m not gonna give any spoiler but I have to tell: I cried, I hurt, I yelled a lot during my read: i didn’t expect to be affected so deeply. The characters are so genuine, natural and their stories are so relatable because everyone of us experienced the same phases and we still remember how to be 15, feeling like nobody is understanding us, bottling the anger, resentment and pain, having no idea about who we are or we are gonna be!
This impeccably written, heart wrenching, questioning and remarkable book helped me make a quick mental time travel to remember those days!
No more words: highly well-earned, deep, intense, unique, truly poignant four stars!
Special thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books / St. Martin’s Press for sharing this emotional ARC with me in exchange my honest review.
January 4, 2022
One of the worst romances (?) I've ever read.
Featuring an opening chapter where the 15 year old protagonist is convinced her teacher is her soulmate, and yells at him upon discovering he's engaged.
Um. YEAH. It's a massive yikes from me.
If any of the above was mentioned in the synopsis, which it wasn’t, I would have veered far from this book. Sure, Gracie being in love with her teacher is only a side plot in the midst of the main romance, but it was a very uncomfy aspect to add; one I feel was in no way necessary to her “character development”.
People are going to argue, “this is a book about teenagers experiencing first love and making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes!” and yes, of course. Except my issues go way beyond the teacher plot recurring throughout the first half of the story.
~★~ What is this book about? ~★~
Gracie is a 15 year old growing more and more fed up with her life. Her father left for an entirely separate family that has no idea she and her mother exist. She attends a boarding school in which she has no friends, (is in love with her teacher while acknowledging that a relationship between them would be both illegal and pedophelic *gag*) and her mother is running low on money. When Gracie accidentally saves the new kid Wade from a fight by hitting his attackers with her slingshot, she gains an unlikely friend. Thus a romance ensues, and Gracie breaks Wade’s heart. She’s forced to undergo a reality check, and discover what she really wants out of love.
~★~
One of the main things that prevented me from enjoying this novel was that none of the characters acted their age. Maybe my high school experience is bizarre, but I’ve never heard 15 year olds curse, smoke, drink and talk about sex as frequently or casually as everyone in this book did. The four years of difference between freshmen and seniors is vast, and I think Mercedes Helnwein definitely struggled with finding that separation in maturity. Gracie sounded older than the 18 year old characters during several instances.
There were many other things I didn’t care for, and had a hard time excusing as “teenagers making dumb mistakes”. The most obvious being seniors hooking up with minors 3 years younger than them and cheating where both parties are aware they’re cheating. The word ‘love’ was thrown around too much for my liking, especially with how fast the characters would come to the realization they’re in love or get over the fact that they’re in love.
To be frank, I don’t have the energy left to criticise this book. I wouldn’t recommend it, as nothing inventive or original was presented that you can’t find in other books. There were issues I was not fond of, and it was overall an unfortunate time.
Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the E-arc!
Featuring an opening chapter where the 15 year old protagonist is convinced her teacher is her soulmate, and yells at him upon discovering he's engaged.
Um. YEAH. It's a massive yikes from me.
If any of the above was mentioned in the synopsis, which it wasn’t, I would have veered far from this book. Sure, Gracie being in love with her teacher is only a side plot in the midst of the main romance, but it was a very uncomfy aspect to add; one I feel was in no way necessary to her “character development”.
People are going to argue, “this is a book about teenagers experiencing first love and making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes!” and yes, of course. Except my issues go way beyond the teacher plot recurring throughout the first half of the story.
~★~ What is this book about? ~★~
Gracie is a 15 year old growing more and more fed up with her life. Her father left for an entirely separate family that has no idea she and her mother exist. She attends a boarding school in which she has no friends, (is in love with her teacher while acknowledging that a relationship between them would be both illegal and pedophelic *gag*) and her mother is running low on money. When Gracie accidentally saves the new kid Wade from a fight by hitting his attackers with her slingshot, she gains an unlikely friend. Thus a romance ensues, and Gracie breaks Wade’s heart. She’s forced to undergo a reality check, and discover what she really wants out of love.
~★~
One of the main things that prevented me from enjoying this novel was that none of the characters acted their age. Maybe my high school experience is bizarre, but I’ve never heard 15 year olds curse, smoke, drink and talk about sex as frequently or casually as everyone in this book did. The four years of difference between freshmen and seniors is vast, and I think Mercedes Helnwein definitely struggled with finding that separation in maturity. Gracie sounded older than the 18 year old characters during several instances.
There were many other things I didn’t care for, and had a hard time excusing as “teenagers making dumb mistakes”. The most obvious being seniors hooking up with minors 3 years younger than them and cheating where both parties are aware they’re cheating. The word ‘love’ was thrown around too much for my liking, especially with how fast the characters would come to the realization they’re in love or get over the fact that they’re in love.
To be frank, I don’t have the energy left to criticise this book. I wouldn’t recommend it, as nothing inventive or original was presented that you can’t find in other books. There were issues I was not fond of, and it was overall an unfortunate time.
Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the E-arc!
April 10, 2021
Actual rating: 3,5
I always had a weak spot for book covers, it is well known true, so when I saw the beautiful design for Slingshot, I knew I had to read this novel even before I read what it was about.
I went into it expecting nothing, as more and more not-so-flattering reviews showed up. I still wanted to give it a fair shot.
From the very first chapter it was obvious why so many people dislike the story. The main character, who is not only unlikeable, but rude, shallow and in her mind above everyone else, cries because her teacher got engaged.
The writing style is also not the most appealing, but it easy to read.
I read somewhere that this book is either retelling of Catcher in the Rye, or written for it's fans, and I agree with that, because it very similar to said book, as both characters are jerks (and I dnf Catcher, just so you know).
However, as I read more and more, I got really invested into the story.
It even made me emotional at some parts.
I appreciate how the author chose a different family situation for Grace, as she is a love child, secret from her father's "real" family.
I like how it was discussed in the story, but I'd also like it to be more explored, if maybe Grace demanded more from her father.
Her situation also gives more light to why she was acting the way she did, because in that kind of situation, you have to have emotional scars, whether you are aware of them or not.
In the end, I ended up liking the book. I guess I just needed some time to get used to Grace and her narration.
Would I recommend it?
Yes, but be aware that you probably won't adore the main character.
I always had a weak spot for book covers, it is well known true, so when I saw the beautiful design for Slingshot, I knew I had to read this novel even before I read what it was about.
I went into it expecting nothing, as more and more not-so-flattering reviews showed up. I still wanted to give it a fair shot.
From the very first chapter it was obvious why so many people dislike the story. The main character, who is not only unlikeable, but rude, shallow and in her mind above everyone else, cries because her teacher got engaged.
The writing style is also not the most appealing, but it easy to read.
I read somewhere that this book is either retelling of Catcher in the Rye, or written for it's fans, and I agree with that, because it very similar to said book, as both characters are jerks (and I dnf Catcher, just so you know).
However, as I read more and more, I got really invested into the story.
It even made me emotional at some parts.
I appreciate how the author chose a different family situation for Grace, as she is a love child, secret from her father's "real" family.
I like how it was discussed in the story, but I'd also like it to be more explored, if maybe Grace demanded more from her father.
Her situation also gives more light to why she was acting the way she did, because in that kind of situation, you have to have emotional scars, whether you are aware of them or not.
In the end, I ended up liking the book. I guess I just needed some time to get used to Grace and her narration.
Would I recommend it?
Yes, but be aware that you probably won't adore the main character.
May 27, 2021
I don't know, I liked some aspects of the book - the voice was pretty distinctive, there was some sharp dialog. But I also felt this story was too messy and too long for what it was. Its pacing was off to be sure, and it needed a better shaped plot.
1-star reviews, IMO, complain about all the things that are not worth complaining about and most of those reviews are strangely prudish - the MC is unlikeable (so what?) and at the beginning of the book she is in love with her teacher (so what? never done anything stupid like that? he behaves entirely appropriate with her), there is also s-e-x (horror!).
1-star reviews, IMO, complain about all the things that are not worth complaining about and most of those reviews are strangely prudish - the MC is unlikeable (so what?) and at the beginning of the book she is in love with her teacher (so what? never done anything stupid like that? he behaves entirely appropriate with her), there is also s-e-x (horror!).
dnf-lost-interest
July 17, 2020Now available to request via NetGalley!
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.
*Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy.
July 24, 2020
Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of Slingshot in exchange for an honest review.
I am so uncomfortable and no one will convince me that anyone in this book is the age they say they are. Anyways, let's unpack this.
We open on Grace, our 15 year old protagonist talking about her certainty that her and her bio teacher are soulmates which is... creepy and problematic but hey! Maybe it's an innocent crush Grace doesn't realize is creepy. Except it isn't. Grace goes so far as to cuss out the teacher when she finds out he has a fiance because she genuinely thought they were soulmates. Already I was wondering why we started here. What should my takeaway from chapter one have been? Pity for Grace? Laughter? Second hand embarrassment? I'm not sure but all I got was disgust and that's basically how the rest of the chapters played out to.
I talk a lot about authors writing 15 year olds as 18 year olds and 18 year olds as 15 year olds because they treat 'high school' as one age group (yes, 4 years doesn't mean much to adults but that's a substancial amount of time when you're that young) and never have I seen it done worse than here. First off, every single character in this book talks like a jaded 30 something combined with a 10 year old trying to swear as much as possible to appear 'adult'. I think whether or not a character swears and the frequency of it is a really important way of creating different character voices and when you're dealing with a group of younger teens, having them all not only be 100% comfortable with swearing but doing it ever 2 seconds just read as absurd. (to reiterate: I'm okay with 15 year old characters swearing. I'm not fine with every single 15 year old character swearing).
And of course, the book's main feature. Sex. Again, I am aware some 15 year olds have lost their virginity but it is a very small percent (google told me it's about 20% tops and that's for both genders. Men tend to lose their virginity over a year before women. This is all in my search history now and I hate myself) the way everyone in this book was just like "casual sex at 15? No biggy!" just felt so weird to me and beyond me being like 'what the heck is going on' it made the plot weird. Grace loses her virginity to a high school senior named Derek. Since they have sex after Easter break, that means he's either 17 or 18 and afterwards our player 17/18 year old reveals its the first time he's had sex with a virgin. Which... maybe believable? But then the next page he says he's glad Grace is casual about it saying one time after he slept with a girl she left notes in his locker for 'a year and a half'. That means this man has been having super casual sex since he was 16 at the oldest (but probably closer to 15 since the statement implies the girl didn't recently stop leaving letters), freuqently sleeps with younger girls, and has never slept with a virgin?
Anyways, sorry I made you sit through statistics about teenage sex but yeah. Did not like this book.
I am so uncomfortable and no one will convince me that anyone in this book is the age they say they are. Anyways, let's unpack this.
We open on Grace, our 15 year old protagonist talking about her certainty that her and her bio teacher are soulmates which is... creepy and problematic but hey! Maybe it's an innocent crush Grace doesn't realize is creepy. Except it isn't. Grace goes so far as to cuss out the teacher when she finds out he has a fiance because she genuinely thought they were soulmates. Already I was wondering why we started here. What should my takeaway from chapter one have been? Pity for Grace? Laughter? Second hand embarrassment? I'm not sure but all I got was disgust and that's basically how the rest of the chapters played out to.
I talk a lot about authors writing 15 year olds as 18 year olds and 18 year olds as 15 year olds because they treat 'high school' as one age group (yes, 4 years doesn't mean much to adults but that's a substancial amount of time when you're that young) and never have I seen it done worse than here. First off, every single character in this book talks like a jaded 30 something combined with a 10 year old trying to swear as much as possible to appear 'adult'. I think whether or not a character swears and the frequency of it is a really important way of creating different character voices and when you're dealing with a group of younger teens, having them all not only be 100% comfortable with swearing but doing it ever 2 seconds just read as absurd. (to reiterate: I'm okay with 15 year old characters swearing. I'm not fine with every single 15 year old character swearing).
And of course, the book's main feature. Sex. Again, I am aware some 15 year olds have lost their virginity but it is a very small percent (google told me it's about 20% tops and that's for both genders. Men tend to lose their virginity over a year before women. This is all in my search history now and I hate myself) the way everyone in this book was just like "casual sex at 15? No biggy!" just felt so weird to me and beyond me being like 'what the heck is going on' it made the plot weird. Grace loses her virginity to a high school senior named Derek. Since they have sex after Easter break, that means he's either 17 or 18 and afterwards our player 17/18 year old reveals its the first time he's had sex with a virgin. Which... maybe believable? But then the next page he says he's glad Grace is casual about it saying one time after he slept with a girl she left notes in his locker for 'a year and a half'. That means this man has been having super casual sex since he was 16 at the oldest (but probably closer to 15 since the statement implies the girl didn't recently stop leaving letters), freuqently sleeps with younger girls, and has never slept with a virgin?
Anyways, sorry I made you sit through statistics about teenage sex but yeah. Did not like this book.
March 31, 2021
An honest and emotional YA read
Grace Welles is fifteen, trapped at a third-rate boarding school in Florida, and pretty much resigned to a lonely and miserable life. Her father has another (real) family in California, sneaking away to occasionally remember that Grace and her beautiful, flighty mother exist. Grace has no friends. But one day she helps a fellow student, Wade, who is being attacked by a group of popular boys. The two form a strange friendship that eventually blossoms into more. Suddenly, life has meaning. But with this meaning, comes feelings, and the realization that there may be more to Wade than his kind and cool exterior.
I've been sitting on this review, because I honestly cannot tell if this book was amazing or terrible. I know, I know--how is that possible? Helnwein has written something very different here, in many ways: a raw, awkward story that often makes you cringe and want to look away. She spares no detail (or language) when covering Gracie's forays into friendship, drinking, and sex. You forget she's fifteen/sixteen, which is probably what makes it so hard, at times. Yes, she's alone at boarding school, but still? Is this what happens at boarding school? Perhaps that's my problem with all boarding school tales. (At least no one gets murdered.) It's a paradox. Grace falls in love with her biology teacher, which seems sweetly realistic. But when he rejects her, she curses him, destroys his property, and more--is this truly allowed, even at a third rate school? Every thing is excused as "needing the tuition money." Not so realistic.
If you're able to overlook the terrifying behavior of these young students (perhaps made all the more frightening to me, as the mother of young daughters, one of whom is actually named Grace), there are some poignant moments here. Helnwein really does capture the beauty and absolute fear of falling in love for the first time, and Grace and Wade's relationship is pretty magical. The self-centeredness of adolescence--how the world revolves around nothing else. Much of Grace's coming of age is realizing that a great big world exists beyond her. But it's tender and sweet watching her fall. There are some cute friendships too.
At many times, this is a funny and heartbreaking book. There are a lot of serious topics hidden between the craziness. Gracie and Wade are truly lovely characters, and I cared for both of them deeply. I think I was just thrown by some of the characters acting/speaking older than their age and the fact that the book truly tells it how it is, right in your face. It takes a bit of an adjustment. I'm not sure this book is for everyone, but there's a tenderness and beauty to it, and I think many teens would enjoy it. 3 stars.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press / Wednesday Books in return for an unbiased review. Look for Slingshot on 4/27/2021!
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Grace Welles is fifteen, trapped at a third-rate boarding school in Florida, and pretty much resigned to a lonely and miserable life. Her father has another (real) family in California, sneaking away to occasionally remember that Grace and her beautiful, flighty mother exist. Grace has no friends. But one day she helps a fellow student, Wade, who is being attacked by a group of popular boys. The two form a strange friendship that eventually blossoms into more. Suddenly, life has meaning. But with this meaning, comes feelings, and the realization that there may be more to Wade than his kind and cool exterior.
I've been sitting on this review, because I honestly cannot tell if this book was amazing or terrible. I know, I know--how is that possible? Helnwein has written something very different here, in many ways: a raw, awkward story that often makes you cringe and want to look away. She spares no detail (or language) when covering Gracie's forays into friendship, drinking, and sex. You forget she's fifteen/sixteen, which is probably what makes it so hard, at times. Yes, she's alone at boarding school, but still? Is this what happens at boarding school? Perhaps that's my problem with all boarding school tales. (At least no one gets murdered.) It's a paradox. Grace falls in love with her biology teacher, which seems sweetly realistic. But when he rejects her, she curses him, destroys his property, and more--is this truly allowed, even at a third rate school? Every thing is excused as "needing the tuition money." Not so realistic.
If you're able to overlook the terrifying behavior of these young students (perhaps made all the more frightening to me, as the mother of young daughters, one of whom is actually named Grace), there are some poignant moments here. Helnwein really does capture the beauty and absolute fear of falling in love for the first time, and Grace and Wade's relationship is pretty magical. The self-centeredness of adolescence--how the world revolves around nothing else. Much of Grace's coming of age is realizing that a great big world exists beyond her. But it's tender and sweet watching her fall. There are some cute friendships too.
At many times, this is a funny and heartbreaking book. There are a lot of serious topics hidden between the craziness. Gracie and Wade are truly lovely characters, and I cared for both of them deeply. I think I was just thrown by some of the characters acting/speaking older than their age and the fact that the book truly tells it how it is, right in your face. It takes a bit of an adjustment. I'm not sure this book is for everyone, but there's a tenderness and beauty to it, and I think many teens would enjoy it. 3 stars.
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and St. Martin's Press / Wednesday Books in return for an unbiased review. Look for Slingshot on 4/27/2021!
Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ PaperBackSwap ~ Smashbomb
Did not finish
May 16, 2021dnf at 100 pages
I have not being having the best luck with my arcs recently. First Down Comes the Night and now this? Unfortunately, its been a lot harder to capture my attention recently so this might even be no fault of the book itself. But at the same time, I feel like even without my reading slump this book is just not for me.
I won't go into a full review of why I didn't love it, because that doesn't feel fair considering I didn't give it a full chance to redeem itself. However, I am pretty sure that I wouldn't have enjoyed it even then for a few reasons.
The book started with the protagonist being angry that her teacher, who she thought was her soulmate, had a fiancée. Yeah... not my thing. Then the characters who were meant to be 15 were acting like they were 18 and I was turned off even more. I personally am not a fan of reading about excessive smoking, drinking, swearing etc. I therefore was not a fan of the protagonist.
I have also seen some sock puppet reviews of this book which lessens my respect for this book and its author.
I would recommend reading reviews from other people who finished it to get a better picture of the entire story. There will probably be some people who will enjoy this book, but I can't help but think that it will be a very niche audience.
Thank you to St Martin’s Press for this ARC
Release Date: 27 April 2021
I have not being having the best luck with my arcs recently. First Down Comes the Night and now this? Unfortunately, its been a lot harder to capture my attention recently so this might even be no fault of the book itself. But at the same time, I feel like even without my reading slump this book is just not for me.
I won't go into a full review of why I didn't love it, because that doesn't feel fair considering I didn't give it a full chance to redeem itself. However, I am pretty sure that I wouldn't have enjoyed it even then for a few reasons.
The book started with the protagonist being angry that her teacher, who she thought was her soulmate, had a fiancée. Yeah... not my thing. Then the characters who were meant to be 15 were acting like they were 18 and I was turned off even more. I personally am not a fan of reading about excessive smoking, drinking, swearing etc. I therefore was not a fan of the protagonist.
I have also seen some sock puppet reviews of this book which lessens my respect for this book and its author.
I would recommend reading reviews from other people who finished it to get a better picture of the entire story. There will probably be some people who will enjoy this book, but I can't help but think that it will be a very niche audience.
Thank you to St Martin’s Press for this ARC
Release Date: 27 April 2021
April 15, 2023
Review coming soon.
December 2, 2021
➵ when the pre-romantic platonic relationship between the protagonists is what interests the most, it's evident that the love didn't translate all too well. everything turned a little melodramatic especially when one takes into account the age of the characters, and while stories centered around emotional teens is always appreciated, the characterization here is simply not likeable, despite the angst and sadness trying its best to create an atmosphere that conveys passion, and thereby doesn't consequent to any cheering.
20.05.2020 the cover has just been revealed and it's yet another illustrated bliss like wednesday books' other amazing covers.
↣ digital copy received via the netgalley ↢
20.05.2020 the cover has just been revealed and it's yet another illustrated bliss like wednesday books' other amazing covers.
Read
May 25, 2021What makes this book so good is how every single character is unlikable, except Anju, who we come to understand as the character who helps Grace wake up from the way she treats other girls around her.
15-year-old Grace is at a third-tier boarding high school in Florida and she's one of the poorest students there. She believes she's in love with one of her teachers and feels immensely betrayed when she meets his fiancee. From there, Grace gives up on ever finding love and then finds herself face to face with Wade following an incident with a slingshot.
Immediately, they bond.
The book takes place over the course of a year and is a slice of life for this teen girl dealing with high school amped up because of it being such an enclosed place. She's got parents who are divorced and her father, she believes, has pretty much disowned her and replaced her and her mother with his new family and life. This isn't exactly the case, but it's a chip Grace wears on her shoulder both at school and around him.
Wade is a really fascinating character and it's clear from the onset there's some deep hurt in him and secrets about his past that don't come out. That changes near the end of the book and not only does Grace witness first hand that hurt he carries, but it shifts how she understands relationships to work (even though by this point, things between them are sour).
The voice is fresh, the writing is fun, and a lot of poor choices are made throughout. Many readers will be turned off immediately with the idea of a girl loving her teacher but...she's a teen girl at a boarding school and has a crush on someone who is older than her, is smarter than her, and who gives her the adult attention she hasn't found elsewhere. It's not a major plot point nor does it have any progression -- he does not reciprocate and is clear on boundaries, which is crucial TO Grace's development.
Anju is one of the only characters of color described as such, and she is also well rendered and complex. To Grace, she's competition, and Grace is unbearably mean toward her. But it's Anju who helps shake Grace from her belief in girls as competition, as annoying, as shallow, and other things that can be too easy for a 15-year-old to think.
I blew through this one. I don't buy the comps to Catcher in the Rye (Grace is not Holden by any means), to John Green (these teens are extremely messy in ways his are more philosophical than screwups), to Rainbow Rowell (MAYBE the closest), nor to Sally Rooney. Maybe Mary HK Choi is a good comp -- there are a lot of similarities to Emergency Contact -- with a side of Nicola Yoon and the voice of the main character from My Eyes Are Up Here.
15-year-old Grace is at a third-tier boarding high school in Florida and she's one of the poorest students there. She believes she's in love with one of her teachers and feels immensely betrayed when she meets his fiancee. From there, Grace gives up on ever finding love and then finds herself face to face with Wade following an incident with a slingshot.
Immediately, they bond.
The book takes place over the course of a year and is a slice of life for this teen girl dealing with high school amped up because of it being such an enclosed place. She's got parents who are divorced and her father, she believes, has pretty much disowned her and replaced her and her mother with his new family and life. This isn't exactly the case, but it's a chip Grace wears on her shoulder both at school and around him.
Wade is a really fascinating character and it's clear from the onset there's some deep hurt in him and secrets about his past that don't come out. That changes near the end of the book and not only does Grace witness first hand that hurt he carries, but it shifts how she understands relationships to work (even though by this point, things between them are sour).
The voice is fresh, the writing is fun, and a lot of poor choices are made throughout. Many readers will be turned off immediately with the idea of a girl loving her teacher but...she's a teen girl at a boarding school and has a crush on someone who is older than her, is smarter than her, and who gives her the adult attention she hasn't found elsewhere. It's not a major plot point nor does it have any progression -- he does not reciprocate and is clear on boundaries, which is crucial TO Grace's development.
Anju is one of the only characters of color described as such, and she is also well rendered and complex. To Grace, she's competition, and Grace is unbearably mean toward her. But it's Anju who helps shake Grace from her belief in girls as competition, as annoying, as shallow, and other things that can be too easy for a 15-year-old to think.
I blew through this one. I don't buy the comps to Catcher in the Rye (Grace is not Holden by any means), to John Green (these teens are extremely messy in ways his are more philosophical than screwups), to Rainbow Rowell (MAYBE the closest), nor to Sally Rooney. Maybe Mary HK Choi is a good comp -- there are a lot of similarities to Emergency Contact -- with a side of Nicola Yoon and the voice of the main character from My Eyes Are Up Here.
September 16, 2024
this is one of the most fucked up books ive ever read. actually, it’s second to every line of you 4 stars tho for the epic music and the sense of humour.
February 24, 2022
This review can also be found at https://carolesrandomlife.com/
This is going to be a hard one to review. There were things that I liked about this book and things that I didn’t care for at all. I am glad that I decided to go with the audiobook for this read because I think that narration was very well done and helped me stick with the book. Overall, I would say that I did like the book and the things that I liked were very well done.
Let’s get the things that I didn’t like out of the way first. The book opens with a scene between Grace and the teacher that she claims to be in love with. This isn’t a normal crush on a teacher that I maybe could have understood, although I wouldn’t have liked that either. This love for her teacher was way overdone and really made my skin crawl. Unfortunately, it popped up several times in the book. The book would have been so much better without this plot point. I was also kind of bummed that the book didn’t give me the happy ending that I hoped for but it was realistic so that isn’t such a huge deal.
There were a lot of things that I did like. First of all, Wade. I liked everything about this character. He was a genuinely likable character despite the things that he has been through. I actually liked the fact that Grace wasn’t all that nice. She said what she thought and didn’t try overly hard to fit in with her peers. She did have a lot of insecurities which we know since the book is told from her point of view. I liked the fact that the author addressed some tough issues in this story.
Jesse Vilinsky did an amazing job with the narration. She was able to really bring Grace and the rest of the characters to life. I thought that her voice was perfect for Grace and I loved the emotion that she put into her reading. I believe that I liked this book a lot more because I decided to listen to the audiobook.
I would encourage anyone who wants to try this book to do so. There were a lot of things that I found enjoyable about the story and I am glad that I decided to pick it up.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Wednesday Books via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the audiobook.
This is going to be a hard one to review. There were things that I liked about this book and things that I didn’t care for at all. I am glad that I decided to go with the audiobook for this read because I think that narration was very well done and helped me stick with the book. Overall, I would say that I did like the book and the things that I liked were very well done.
Let’s get the things that I didn’t like out of the way first. The book opens with a scene between Grace and the teacher that she claims to be in love with. This isn’t a normal crush on a teacher that I maybe could have understood, although I wouldn’t have liked that either. This love for her teacher was way overdone and really made my skin crawl. Unfortunately, it popped up several times in the book. The book would have been so much better without this plot point. I was also kind of bummed that the book didn’t give me the happy ending that I hoped for but it was realistic so that isn’t such a huge deal.
There were a lot of things that I did like. First of all, Wade. I liked everything about this character. He was a genuinely likable character despite the things that he has been through. I actually liked the fact that Grace wasn’t all that nice. She said what she thought and didn’t try overly hard to fit in with her peers. She did have a lot of insecurities which we know since the book is told from her point of view. I liked the fact that the author addressed some tough issues in this story.
Jesse Vilinsky did an amazing job with the narration. She was able to really bring Grace and the rest of the characters to life. I thought that her voice was perfect for Grace and I loved the emotion that she put into her reading. I believe that I liked this book a lot more because I decided to listen to the audiobook.
I would encourage anyone who wants to try this book to do so. There were a lot of things that I found enjoyable about the story and I am glad that I decided to pick it up.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Wednesday Books via NetGalley and purchased a copy of the audiobook.
September 13, 2020
My thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
WELL! For a while there, I thought my entire review would be written in capital letters. This author has a quirky wit and a very wry sense of humour.
Fifteen year old Gracie was, in her own mind, a "Rebel With Lots of Cause." She was the illegitimate daughter of a man with a "real family" on whom he showered most of his affection, time and money. Gracie and her "always look on the bright side mother" were left with the dregs - of just about everything.
At the start of the story, Gracie is suffering the agonizing pangs of her first bout of unrequited love for her biology teacher. Gracie is an extremely intelligent girl, but you realize that she is a typical self-absorbed, melodramatic teen with a huge chip on her shoulder.
The story is told from Gracie's point of view, but the reader can easily read between the lines and see that Gracie is often the victim of her own turbulent emotions. She is very independent and scorns the popular crowd, but for some reason the cool and hip Beth influences several of Gracie's life-altering choices. Her friendship with Wade was downright charming - if you ever dared used such an adjective within Gracie's hearing!
In the end, this is a highly entertaining, insightful, and extremely well written story about growing up, making good choices from the slim pickings that life has left you with, surviving and moving on. I really liked the realistic ending. It will be interesting to see what other reviewers have to say about it.
This author took all the usual tropes and shook them up. Love triangles - you bet! But, well, that was not really a LOVE triangle in the usual sense. Read it, and you'll see what I mean!
I grew to like Gracie, despite her prickly ways. Granted, she often got on my nerves a bit. There were times when I wanted to tell her to smarten up and tell her father exactly how she felt about his unequal treatment, but then this would have been a totally different and much shorter story, right?
Highly recommended! A five out of five for this debut novel!
WELL! For a while there, I thought my entire review would be written in capital letters. This author has a quirky wit and a very wry sense of humour.
Fifteen year old Gracie was, in her own mind, a "Rebel With Lots of Cause." She was the illegitimate daughter of a man with a "real family" on whom he showered most of his affection, time and money. Gracie and her "always look on the bright side mother" were left with the dregs - of just about everything.
At the start of the story, Gracie is suffering the agonizing pangs of her first bout of unrequited love for her biology teacher. Gracie is an extremely intelligent girl, but you realize that she is a typical self-absorbed, melodramatic teen with a huge chip on her shoulder.
The story is told from Gracie's point of view, but the reader can easily read between the lines and see that Gracie is often the victim of her own turbulent emotions. She is very independent and scorns the popular crowd, but for some reason the cool and hip Beth influences several of Gracie's life-altering choices. Her friendship with Wade was downright charming - if you ever dared used such an adjective within Gracie's hearing!
In the end, this is a highly entertaining, insightful, and extremely well written story about growing up, making good choices from the slim pickings that life has left you with, surviving and moving on. I really liked the realistic ending. It will be interesting to see what other reviewers have to say about it.
This author took all the usual tropes and shook them up. Love triangles - you bet! But, well, that was not really a LOVE triangle in the usual sense. Read it, and you'll see what I mean!
I grew to like Gracie, despite her prickly ways. Granted, she often got on my nerves a bit. There were times when I wanted to tell her to smarten up and tell her father exactly how she felt about his unequal treatment, but then this would have been a totally different and much shorter story, right?
Highly recommended! A five out of five for this debut novel!
Did not finish
May 30, 2025 i received the arc from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review
i’m still trying to figure out how i managed to actually finish reading this book. i was hoping for something that was a little more emotional but instead i got something that was melodramatic. i wasn’t a huge fan of the main character and a lot of the situations were over exaggerated.
this book honestly had a lot of potential. it’s a shame that it didn’t live up to it.
i’m still trying to figure out how i managed to actually finish reading this book. i was hoping for something that was a little more emotional but instead i got something that was melodramatic. i wasn’t a huge fan of the main character and a lot of the situations were over exaggerated.
this book honestly had a lot of potential. it’s a shame that it didn’t live up to it.
Want to read
August 10, 2020Thank you Netgalley for approving me for this title!!
May 9, 2021
3 stars
You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.
This is an ok Young Adult Contemporary Romance set in a mid-tier boarding school in Florida. Grace is a 15 year out outcast who believes her science teacher is her soulmate. When she finds out he's engaged, her heart shatters. She then sees one of the popular bullies and his minions beating up a boy and she shoots a rock with her slingshot and hits the bully in the face. The boy, Wade, and Grace run off and escape. So begins the relationship between Grace and Wade. It starts as friendship and Grace begins to see the world differently and open herself up. It slowly builds to a sweet romance. But, they both have secrets they are keeping from each other and eventually Grace unintentionally crushes Wade's heart. Can either of them survive the heartache?
The beginning of the book when Grace goes on and on about her crush on her teacher was awkward and uncomfortable to read. That part when on far too long. Grace was hard to like in the beginning. There's a difference between being shy and introspective and just down right rude. Grace is just plain rude. Wade is a fun-loving character that brings out the best in Grace, but he's a one-dimensional character. We only see him by how he affects Grace, not as a full-fledge character.
While this is a typical teenage love story, everything is exaggerated and overly-dramatic (although, really, is it possible for a teenager love story to not be dramatic?) Anyway, it was a quick, fun read and I enjoyed the book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. All opinions are my own.
You can read all of my reviews at Nerd Girl Loves Books.
This is an ok Young Adult Contemporary Romance set in a mid-tier boarding school in Florida. Grace is a 15 year out outcast who believes her science teacher is her soulmate. When she finds out he's engaged, her heart shatters. She then sees one of the popular bullies and his minions beating up a boy and she shoots a rock with her slingshot and hits the bully in the face. The boy, Wade, and Grace run off and escape. So begins the relationship between Grace and Wade. It starts as friendship and Grace begins to see the world differently and open herself up. It slowly builds to a sweet romance. But, they both have secrets they are keeping from each other and eventually Grace unintentionally crushes Wade's heart. Can either of them survive the heartache?
The beginning of the book when Grace goes on and on about her crush on her teacher was awkward and uncomfortable to read. That part when on far too long. Grace was hard to like in the beginning. There's a difference between being shy and introspective and just down right rude. Grace is just plain rude. Wade is a fun-loving character that brings out the best in Grace, but he's a one-dimensional character. We only see him by how he affects Grace, not as a full-fledge character.
While this is a typical teenage love story, everything is exaggerated and overly-dramatic (although, really, is it possible for a teenager love story to not be dramatic?) Anyway, it was a quick, fun read and I enjoyed the book.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. All opinions are my own.
October 5, 2020
I have received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Oh, huh, well... Slingshot was definitely a frustrating read for me. In it, you will meet Gracie and Wade. In the beginning, I loved Wade because he was completely and utterly adorable. Yet, there was so much about him we didn't know because Gracie was self-centered and shallow. She was completely horrible to anyone and everyone. Plus, I also got crazy psycho vibes from her throughout the book.
Wade was no different once we got to see little bits and pieces. Or maybe it's just me and I wouldn't trust anyone if they said they really really liked or loved me after knowing me for an hour. Or a day. Seems oddly suspicious.
Other than that, the romance was okay and all the secrets at the end were okay. BUT, and this is a huge but guys, the ending was all sorts of underwhelming. Why the letter? Why not respond? Why ghost to begin with? Nothing was making sense and I was just so done with Gracie and Wade. I hope they find happiness with someone or something else.
Oh, huh, well... Slingshot was definitely a frustrating read for me. In it, you will meet Gracie and Wade. In the beginning, I loved Wade because he was completely and utterly adorable. Yet, there was so much about him we didn't know because Gracie was self-centered and shallow. She was completely horrible to anyone and everyone. Plus, I also got crazy psycho vibes from her throughout the book.
Wade was no different once we got to see little bits and pieces. Or maybe it's just me and I wouldn't trust anyone if they said they really really liked or loved me after knowing me for an hour. Or a day. Seems oddly suspicious.
Other than that, the romance was okay and all the secrets at the end were okay. BUT, and this is a huge but guys, the ending was all sorts of underwhelming. Why the letter? Why not respond? Why ghost to begin with? Nothing was making sense and I was just so done with Gracie and Wade. I hope they find happiness with someone or something else.
August 28, 2020
UPDATE: Apparently there are a lot of sock puppet reviews on this books, all comparing this to Catcher in the Rye, having no other reviews etc. This makes me extremely mad that an author would do this, so this is being bumped down to 1 star.
I wanted to love this book. I saw early reviews and almost everyone loved it. But I couldn’t get past the fact that the main characters were 15, when they felt like 17-18. I just ended up thinking about “ew, is this what my brother does/thinks about”... So in conclusion, nah this book just wasn’t for me. The only character I even remotely liked was Wade because he seemed just troubled and sweet. Maybe I’m just weird about this book because I’m 27 and 12 years removed from being 15... who knows.
I wanted to love this book. I saw early reviews and almost everyone loved it. But I couldn’t get past the fact that the main characters were 15, when they felt like 17-18. I just ended up thinking about “ew, is this what my brother does/thinks about”... So in conclusion, nah this book just wasn’t for me. The only character I even remotely liked was Wade because he seemed just troubled and sweet. Maybe I’m just weird about this book because I’m 27 and 12 years removed from being 15... who knows.
May 8, 2020
I LOVE books about young people muddling their way through life and love...whether it's an adult book like NORMAL PEOPLE by Sally Rooney or a YA read like THE FAULT IN OUR STARS, I'm in! SLINGSHOT is perfect for readers like me. It's a "funny/sad" story about two teenagers at a second rate boarding school in Florida, who find each other just when they need it. I like that it has a great love story, but it's not cheesy. Plus it's all from the point of view of a really funny heroine who's brave enough to say what's really on her mind. Can't wait to recommend it to friends! One of my favorite recent reads.
June 22, 2020
WOW.
I loved this book more than I thought I would. Slingshot surpassed my expectations. Granted, I didn't have many expectations, but I was totally awed by this book.
Within the first several chapters my heartstrings were being pulled. I have NEVER been so emotionally moved so early on in a book before. If I get mildly emotional, it's closer to the ending of a book, but never in the beginning. And never with such intensity. That seriously wowed me.
The book is written in Gracie's, the main character's, point of view. She is an outcast, a sophomore in high school, and she is lonely-- terribly lonely. The writing portrays her very well as a 15 year old girl. I remember that stage of life and I think Helnwein was right on in how Gracie thought things through and how she developed throughout the book.
But the emotions that Gracie expressed were so...
raw.
I have had similar feelings but was never able to describe them properly until I actually saw them written in words.
And I loved that Gracie was very flawed; that helped me connect better with her and her emotions because she was a deeper character. I understood why she acted a certain way. Really, Helnwein did a fantastic job in writing through Gracie's emotions and development.
In reality, all the characters have many flaws. But that made it so REAL and so BEAUTIFUL.
Word of Caution:
This book might not be for the faint of heart. There is a LOT of swearing. There is sex, but it isn't graphic. There is bullying. There are some serious familial issues. There's abuse. BUT to me, all of those messy elements are what made the book so beautiful. Families aren't perfect, people aren't perfect, life is not perfect. And this book embodies that so well. So if you're ok with reading something like that... then I recommend this as a top priority on your reading list.
I loved this book more than I thought I would. Slingshot surpassed my expectations. Granted, I didn't have many expectations, but I was totally awed by this book.
Within the first several chapters my heartstrings were being pulled. I have NEVER been so emotionally moved so early on in a book before. If I get mildly emotional, it's closer to the ending of a book, but never in the beginning. And never with such intensity. That seriously wowed me.
The book is written in Gracie's, the main character's, point of view. She is an outcast, a sophomore in high school, and she is lonely-- terribly lonely. The writing portrays her very well as a 15 year old girl. I remember that stage of life and I think Helnwein was right on in how Gracie thought things through and how she developed throughout the book.
But the emotions that Gracie expressed were so...
raw.
I have had similar feelings but was never able to describe them properly until I actually saw them written in words.
And I loved that Gracie was very flawed; that helped me connect better with her and her emotions because she was a deeper character. I understood why she acted a certain way. Really, Helnwein did a fantastic job in writing through Gracie's emotions and development.
In reality, all the characters have many flaws. But that made it so REAL and so BEAUTIFUL.
Word of Caution:
This book might not be for the faint of heart. There is a LOT of swearing. There is sex, but it isn't graphic. There is bullying. There are some serious familial issues. There's abuse. BUT to me, all of those messy elements are what made the book so beautiful. Families aren't perfect, people aren't perfect, life is not perfect. And this book embodies that so well. So if you're ok with reading something like that... then I recommend this as a top priority on your reading list.
May 24, 2021
DNF @ 30%
I wanted to stop reading this pretty much as soon as I began this book. Literally every five minutes I would think to myself why am I even still reading this book. I pretty much always finish books even if I am not enjoying them because I like to know the ending. I found Grace to be really annoying and didn't find reading from her perspective enjoyable at all. I also found it really weird that this 15 year old thought her teacher was her soulmate and was super upset over him getting engaged. I hate stopping to read a book partway through but there is no way I can get through this book without falling into a reading slump.
I wanted to stop reading this pretty much as soon as I began this book. Literally every five minutes I would think to myself why am I even still reading this book. I pretty much always finish books even if I am not enjoying them because I like to know the ending. I found Grace to be really annoying and didn't find reading from her perspective enjoyable at all. I also found it really weird that this 15 year old thought her teacher was her soulmate and was super upset over him getting engaged. I hate stopping to read a book partway through but there is no way I can get through this book without falling into a reading slump.
Did not finish
March 27, 2021DNF @ 96 pages
While I think some people might enjoy this story, it just wasn’t for me. I know the main character is only 15 years old but she came across as extremely immature and her actions were so frustrating. This, combined with some very mature topics covered in the book, made for an off-balance plot.
While I think some people might enjoy this story, it just wasn’t for me. I know the main character is only 15 years old but she came across as extremely immature and her actions were so frustrating. This, combined with some very mature topics covered in the book, made for an off-balance plot.
July 19, 2022
DNF @ 3% Big Fat NOPE for me! Should have known better when it was blurbed by Rainbow Rowell 😑😑😑
Read
June 18, 2025idk how to feel ..
August 18, 2021
Spoiler free review
“Love is love. It’s all that matters.”
Slingshot starts with our main character Grace sharing how she thinks her teacher who is about 20 years older than her is her soulmate. When she discovers he has a wife she went completely nuts and screamed at him endlessly. At first, I thought the book would somewhat revolve around this incident, perhaps something like revenge or whatever but no. Overall that part was really irrelevant to the plot.
Continuing with talking about the plot, I didn’t get it much. There wasn’t any direction to a major conflict in the story. It was simply just the readers following the life of Grace a high school student and reading about small gossip and teenage “love” problems. There wasn’t any spice too it just bland. Let’s talk about the main character. I didn’t like Grace as much as I thought I could have. Yes, she can be a bit relatable at times. But I didn’t like how she thought she was super ugly when she was just as pretty to catch boys' attention. Then again everyone is flawed, not just in this book but in life. Because well, we can’t all be perfect. Ending this review, I did like how the author had included a song for each chapter in the book. I thought it was a cool idea.
“It wasn’t just that I thought we were soul mates—I knew we were. I just knew. My reasoning was that when you know things on that level, they don’t need to make any practical sense, because love is a bigger truth than logistics, and basically anyone who wanted to have a problem with that could go suck it.”
Reviewed: 1/29/2021
ARC COPY
Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for letting me read a digital copy of this book.
(quotes/saying are from arc and may change)
“Love is love. It’s all that matters.”
Slingshot starts with our main character Grace sharing how she thinks her teacher who is about 20 years older than her is her soulmate. When she discovers he has a wife she went completely nuts and screamed at him endlessly. At first, I thought the book would somewhat revolve around this incident, perhaps something like revenge or whatever but no. Overall that part was really irrelevant to the plot.
Continuing with talking about the plot, I didn’t get it much. There wasn’t any direction to a major conflict in the story. It was simply just the readers following the life of Grace a high school student and reading about small gossip and teenage “love” problems. There wasn’t any spice too it just bland. Let’s talk about the main character. I didn’t like Grace as much as I thought I could have. Yes, she can be a bit relatable at times. But I didn’t like how she thought she was super ugly when she was just as pretty to catch boys' attention. Then again everyone is flawed, not just in this book but in life. Because well, we can’t all be perfect. Ending this review, I did like how the author had included a song for each chapter in the book. I thought it was a cool idea.
“It wasn’t just that I thought we were soul mates—I knew we were. I just knew. My reasoning was that when you know things on that level, they don’t need to make any practical sense, because love is a bigger truth than logistics, and basically anyone who wanted to have a problem with that could go suck it.”
Reviewed: 1/29/2021
ARC COPY
Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for letting me read a digital copy of this book.
(quotes/saying are from arc and may change)
Read
February 11, 2021I thought I'd check in with what's going on with YA these days. Maybe this was not the book to try.
It begins with the main character Gracie crying in a bathroom over a teacher, twenty years older than her fifteen years, who is now engaged. She has decided out of the blue that she is in love" with said teacher, and screams the house down at him for daring to have his own life.
This subject (which I really don't want to read about, blech) could have been handled sensitively. Kids that age live in the moment, their hormones fueled like jet engines. At fifteen it's difficult to know the difference between love and lust, especially with regard to an authority figure--something the book avoids dealing with, as our heroine goes on to demonstrate how cool she is with bad language, bad behavior, bad choices. Also bad characterization--she came in and out of focus, at times she didn't read like any of the teens around me.
The plot goes haywire from there, making me wonder if the editor was asleep on the job. There's a lot of talent here, but little narrative control. Making a note to check out this author after she gets a few more books under her belt.
Copy provided by NetGalley
It begins with the main character Gracie crying in a bathroom over a teacher, twenty years older than her fifteen years, who is now engaged. She has decided out of the blue that she is in love" with said teacher, and screams the house down at him for daring to have his own life.
This subject (which I really don't want to read about, blech) could have been handled sensitively. Kids that age live in the moment, their hormones fueled like jet engines. At fifteen it's difficult to know the difference between love and lust, especially with regard to an authority figure--something the book avoids dealing with, as our heroine goes on to demonstrate how cool she is with bad language, bad behavior, bad choices. Also bad characterization--she came in and out of focus, at times she didn't read like any of the teens around me.
The plot goes haywire from there, making me wonder if the editor was asleep on the job. There's a lot of talent here, but little narrative control. Making a note to check out this author after she gets a few more books under her belt.
Copy provided by NetGalley
March 18, 2021
Rating: 2/5 stars, Did Not Finish (DNF)
TW: sexual harassment, student-teacher romantic relations
I received this novel as an ARC from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I was personally very excited to receive this book as an advanced reader's copy. It seemed like a cute, refreshing contemporary that I honestly needed in my life. However, the execution of this story was not the breath of fresh air I was hoping for.
Our main character Grace goes to a private boarding school, although she questions her status there quite often as a lower class member of society whose mother lives in a mobile home. She's reclusive, stuck up, and has a bite that matches her bark. While struggling with her own stance at school as well as life, she ends up saving new kid Wade from some school bullies. Through this supposedly not selfless act, Grace starts to understand herself and develop friendships she wouldn't have had before.
This book was extremely hard to sit through. I read about 40 percent and had to force myself to stop because of the writing style and choice of inclusions.
The first major issue I had was the whole unrequited side romance we are introduced to at the very first page, which is Grace crying because she is in love with her biology teacher and just found out that he has a fiancé. I have extremely strong opinions about this kind of romance, so to have it thrown into your face in the very first chapter did not set the bar high for this book. I feel it would have been worse if the biology teacher actually reciprocated this love, but he doesn't. Grace tries to play it off as saying all boys are immature and that she needs someone man enough, but it never sat well with me.
Speaking of Grace, I hated her. She was so rude to everyone she met, especially to Wade and her roommate Georgina. It seemed so unnecessary and immediately made me disconnect from her as a main character. There are also some weird tidbits about her that we find out that seem... extremely out of place. For example, during the scene where she saves Wade from bullies, she uses a slingshot that she somehow always has on her and uses it to shoot a pebble at the bully, somehow stopping the whole showdown. Then later, when confronted about it, she played it off as her not liking the bully's face, all to keep her bad girl image.
All of the dialogues throughout the book made me cringe and rendered it hard to read. Here are a few examples of how cringe it was:
- There was a whole discussion on the purpose of having to pee, and why it needed to be done (I think that most of us probably know why we do it)
- One person that comes onto Grace explains the boy science behind the shape of a girl's calves and how it turns them on (I almost gagged reading it)
- IN THIS SAME SCENE the individual coming onto Grace literally has to EXPLAIN how to kiss someone, with extremely descriptive words. It was... so uncomfortable and disgusting.
One last thing of note is probably Wade, probably the most likeable character in this whole book, which is saying something. He's supposed to be the bad boy who has been kicked from four different schools before arriving at this one. Yet, we see him a majority of the time being nice or super considerate to Grace. We're told he punched someone at school, and that he and Grace skipped once, but that's it. His personality seemed a bit all over the place.
I had to convince myself to stop this book because of how much the writing, as well as the actions of the characters, made me feel uncomfortable or disgusting. I personally do not like DNFing books unless there are some serious problems, but this was something I could not force myself to sit through any more. It may be for others but unfortunately this was not the book for me.
EDIT: It has come to my attention after writing this review and posting it on NetGalley that the author, along with several of her friends, have made what are known as "sock puppet" accounts as a means to flood the book with positive 5-star reviews. Some of these reviews are very similar in that they praise the novel for being the next To Kill a Mockingbird and things of the sort. As an aspiring author, this disgusts me to hear. On top of this, apparently some of these accounts have been attacking those who have left negative reviews. I myself have not been a victim of this yet, but I want to make anyone aware to not support this author. Anyone who does this is sleazy and clearly does not think too highly of their own work.
TW: sexual harassment, student-teacher romantic relations
I received this novel as an ARC from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I was personally very excited to receive this book as an advanced reader's copy. It seemed like a cute, refreshing contemporary that I honestly needed in my life. However, the execution of this story was not the breath of fresh air I was hoping for.
Our main character Grace goes to a private boarding school, although she questions her status there quite often as a lower class member of society whose mother lives in a mobile home. She's reclusive, stuck up, and has a bite that matches her bark. While struggling with her own stance at school as well as life, she ends up saving new kid Wade from some school bullies. Through this supposedly not selfless act, Grace starts to understand herself and develop friendships she wouldn't have had before.
This book was extremely hard to sit through. I read about 40 percent and had to force myself to stop because of the writing style and choice of inclusions.
The first major issue I had was the whole unrequited side romance we are introduced to at the very first page, which is Grace crying because she is in love with her biology teacher and just found out that he has a fiancé. I have extremely strong opinions about this kind of romance, so to have it thrown into your face in the very first chapter did not set the bar high for this book. I feel it would have been worse if the biology teacher actually reciprocated this love, but he doesn't. Grace tries to play it off as saying all boys are immature and that she needs someone man enough, but it never sat well with me.
Speaking of Grace, I hated her. She was so rude to everyone she met, especially to Wade and her roommate Georgina. It seemed so unnecessary and immediately made me disconnect from her as a main character. There are also some weird tidbits about her that we find out that seem... extremely out of place. For example, during the scene where she saves Wade from bullies, she uses a slingshot that she somehow always has on her and uses it to shoot a pebble at the bully, somehow stopping the whole showdown. Then later, when confronted about it, she played it off as her not liking the bully's face, all to keep her bad girl image.
All of the dialogues throughout the book made me cringe and rendered it hard to read. Here are a few examples of how cringe it was:
- There was a whole discussion on the purpose of having to pee, and why it needed to be done (I think that most of us probably know why we do it)
- One person that comes onto Grace explains the boy science behind the shape of a girl's calves and how it turns them on (I almost gagged reading it)
- IN THIS SAME SCENE the individual coming onto Grace literally has to EXPLAIN how to kiss someone, with extremely descriptive words. It was... so uncomfortable and disgusting.
One last thing of note is probably Wade, probably the most likeable character in this whole book, which is saying something. He's supposed to be the bad boy who has been kicked from four different schools before arriving at this one. Yet, we see him a majority of the time being nice or super considerate to Grace. We're told he punched someone at school, and that he and Grace skipped once, but that's it. His personality seemed a bit all over the place.
I had to convince myself to stop this book because of how much the writing, as well as the actions of the characters, made me feel uncomfortable or disgusting. I personally do not like DNFing books unless there are some serious problems, but this was something I could not force myself to sit through any more. It may be for others but unfortunately this was not the book for me.
EDIT: It has come to my attention after writing this review and posting it on NetGalley that the author, along with several of her friends, have made what are known as "sock puppet" accounts as a means to flood the book with positive 5-star reviews. Some of these reviews are very similar in that they praise the novel for being the next To Kill a Mockingbird and things of the sort. As an aspiring author, this disgusts me to hear. On top of this, apparently some of these accounts have been attacking those who have left negative reviews. I myself have not been a victim of this yet, but I want to make anyone aware to not support this author. Anyone who does this is sleazy and clearly does not think too highly of their own work.
August 20, 2020
Received a Netgalley ARC in exchange for an honest review.
TW: abuse
Please be safe while reading it!
I had mixed feelings while reading this book. One moment I would feel like I’m finally enjoying it and then the next I’d dislike it again.
Okay, but what is it actually about? Slingshot is told through our main character, Gracie Welles’s, pov. Gracie goes to a boarding school, and, as you’ll find out in the second chapter, her home life is far from perfect. Long story short, one day while skipping class she comes across a new kid (Wade Scholfield) who is being bullied and she uses her slingshot, which she carries around for luck, to save him. At first she doesn’t like Wade but eventually they become friends and develop feelings for one another.
Now, let’s dive into my thoughts!
What I didn’t like:
➵ Our main character (Gracie Welles): She’s the epitome of “I’m not like other girls” and was honestly just a straight up bitch throughout the whole book without any reasoning. She also came off as really whiny and was really selfish. She also had like 0 redeeming qualities.
➵ The language used: Now I’m not a saint and I do swear but the book is marketed as young adult, which means it’s for 13 year olds and older. But the author used language I’ve read in New Adult books. Some examples are: cum and cunt. I just personally don’t think that those words should be used in a book that 12/13 year olds are going to be reading.
What I liked:
➵ The side characters: It’s sad, but it’s true.The side characters were the only interesting part about this book. Beth and Derek (two seniors) were really complex and fascinating characters to read about and whenever they were in a scene with Grace I actually started to care. I just wished they had more scenes (especially Derek).
➵ Wade Scholfied: He was adorable! Sure, he came off as cheesy in some scenes but overall I really liked him. He’s such a soft, gentle, kind-hearted soul and he just deserves the world.
Overall, I’d give this books 2.5 stars because there were some aspects of it I genuinely enjoyed.
TW: abuse
Please be safe while reading it!
I had mixed feelings while reading this book. One moment I would feel like I’m finally enjoying it and then the next I’d dislike it again.
Okay, but what is it actually about? Slingshot is told through our main character, Gracie Welles’s, pov. Gracie goes to a boarding school, and, as you’ll find out in the second chapter, her home life is far from perfect. Long story short, one day while skipping class she comes across a new kid (Wade Scholfield) who is being bullied and she uses her slingshot, which she carries around for luck, to save him. At first she doesn’t like Wade but eventually they become friends and develop feelings for one another.
Now, let’s dive into my thoughts!
What I didn’t like:
➵ Our main character (Gracie Welles): She’s the epitome of “I’m not like other girls” and was honestly just a straight up bitch throughout the whole book without any reasoning. She also came off as really whiny and was really selfish. She also had like 0 redeeming qualities.
➵ The language used: Now I’m not a saint and I do swear but the book is marketed as young adult, which means it’s for 13 year olds and older. But the author used language I’ve read in New Adult books. Some examples are: cum and cunt. I just personally don’t think that those words should be used in a book that 12/13 year olds are going to be reading.
What I liked:
➵ The side characters: It’s sad, but it’s true.The side characters were the only interesting part about this book. Beth and Derek (two seniors) were really complex and fascinating characters to read about and whenever they were in a scene with Grace I actually started to care. I just wished they had more scenes (especially Derek).
➵ Wade Scholfied: He was adorable! Sure, he came off as cheesy in some scenes but overall I really liked him. He’s such a soft, gentle, kind-hearted soul and he just deserves the world.
Overall, I’d give this books 2.5 stars because there were some aspects of it I genuinely enjoyed.
November 11, 2020
This book was such a disappointment. After seeing this author being compared to Rainbow Rowell and John Green I had high hopes for a new voice in YA but this book was not for me. The only reason I finished it was so I could post this review.
Slingshot starts with the main character, Gracie, crying because her biology teacher doesn't love her back. This plot point really bothered me and I felt it was unneeded. Gracie claims to be in love with her teacher and when he shuts her down (as he should, because this is completely inappropriate) she lashes out at him. I found Gracie to be an unlikeable character who is rude to pretty much everyone she encounters, at the end of the book she has improved but only in the last few pages. Everything Gracie does throughout the story makes no sense to me, maybe I'm getting old but this 15 year old does the most bizarre things. I found her unrelatable and was frustrated with her actions as I kept reading.
She's mean for no reason and hurts Wade's feelings constantly. I loved Wade and he was the only redeeming thing about Slingshot. He was adorable and he honestly deserved better than Gracie. Some other side characters were alright but none were so great to save this book for me. This depiction of teenagers felt off and unrealistic. The ending was unfulfilling and I just didn't like this book. There were also multiple physical fights which I didn't care for and the overall plot was confusing. I couldn't figure out where the author was going and in the end I was annoyed with Gracie and unhappy with the ending.
Overall, I did not like this book at all and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. There's an inappropriate fixation with a teacher, abuse, physical fights, teen sex and cursing if any of those bother anyone reading this review.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.
Slingshot starts with the main character, Gracie, crying because her biology teacher doesn't love her back. This plot point really bothered me and I felt it was unneeded. Gracie claims to be in love with her teacher and when he shuts her down (as he should, because this is completely inappropriate) she lashes out at him. I found Gracie to be an unlikeable character who is rude to pretty much everyone she encounters, at the end of the book she has improved but only in the last few pages. Everything Gracie does throughout the story makes no sense to me, maybe I'm getting old but this 15 year old does the most bizarre things. I found her unrelatable and was frustrated with her actions as I kept reading.
She's mean for no reason and hurts Wade's feelings constantly. I loved Wade and he was the only redeeming thing about Slingshot. He was adorable and he honestly deserved better than Gracie. Some other side characters were alright but none were so great to save this book for me. This depiction of teenagers felt off and unrealistic. The ending was unfulfilling and I just didn't like this book. There were also multiple physical fights which I didn't care for and the overall plot was confusing. I couldn't figure out where the author was going and in the end I was annoyed with Gracie and unhappy with the ending.
Overall, I did not like this book at all and wouldn't recommend it to anyone. There's an inappropriate fixation with a teacher, abuse, physical fights, teen sex and cursing if any of those bother anyone reading this review.
Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. As always, all opinions are my own.
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